Is Multi-Level Marketing Really The Way To Go?

I had this one important question come to mind as I have been working on my small business blog.  Is multi-level marketing the right kind of business to start?  Well, it really depends on a lot of factors.  For instance:

1. How much money do you have to invest?

Selling somebody else's product is usually a way to keep your startup costs down.  They have usually invested the time and money to devise marketing plan, sales materials, advertisements, and approaches, so all you have to do is apply what they have already done for you.

If you have money to invest, developing your own product, your own sales materials, your own advertisements, and so forth might be doable.

2. How big are your ambitions?

Are you looking for a full-time income in sales or are you looking for the billion dollar payday?  Having your own product allows you the opportunity to grow huge, but selling for a multi-level marketing company can still delivery you a six or seven digit income.

3. How much risk can you assume?

The more money you invest, the bigger the risk that it will either not pay off or that it'll lead to complete destruction.  Are you willing to risk everything you have?

Multi-level marketing distributorships usually involve very little risk.  The worst thing that usually happens is that the distributor will quit and lose their small investment.

Personally, I would prefer to be the MLM company than be an MLM distributor.  The benefit would be that you would control your own destiny, you are not at the whim of somebody else.  On the other hand, being an MLM company requires much start-up capital because MLM companies are information intensive.  You have to know how much each distributor sold and be able to compile that into commissions to pay everyone.  Then you need to cut checks and mail them out.  There is lots of IT infrustructure involved there.

So it's up to you.  What do you think?